Kimberly Engelman, PhD

Co-Program leader, Cancer Control & Population Health, The University of Kansas Cancer Center

Dr. Engelman serves as the co-leader of the Cancer Control and Population Health Research Program and has received more than $3 million in grant funding awarded by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society. For the past decade, Dr. Engelman has investigated barriers to cancer screening with a particular focus on colon and breast cancer. Her studies in the breast cancer screening area are among the first to describe differences in repeat mammography variation among mammography facilities. She is examining mammography facility characteristics that may impact mammography utilization. She is developing and validating the first patient screening mammography satisfaction instrument for use in the United States and expanding this work to be culturally relevant to underserved populations such as American Indian women. She also has developed and conducted an unparalleled in-depth on-site assessment procedure of mammography facilities to characterize mammography facilities and identify key constructs relevant to high vs. low facility-level repeat mammography rates. This line of research also will provide the basis from which intervention studies may be developed to improve women’s experiences at mammography facilities and to promote routine use of mammography.

Dr. Engelman also has developed Healthy Living Kansas, a thriving program to promote colon cancer or breast cancer screening among persons living in rural and underserved Kansas communities. Healthy Living Kansas represents a longstanding partnership with more than 50 rural Kansas primary care providers and their patients and has more recently been deployed at community outreach events, in an effort to reach persons more likely to be without a primary health provider. One of the goals of Healthy Living Kansas is to empower patients to make an informed decision regarding breast or colorectal cancer screening. Using advanced computer software technology, Dr. Engelman has developed dynamic audio/video-infused programs to move participants towards making the cancer screening decision that is right for them. The Healthy Living Kansas program has resulted in enhanced awareness about colon cancer testing among more than 400 primary care patients across the state and also has prompted numerous Kansans to get screened for colon cancer. Nearly 100 underserved rural Latinos and American Indian women also have engaged with Dr. Engelman’s unique breast health program conducted in partnership with local community health workers.

Dr. Engelman received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice (with honors) in 1993 from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn. She holds Masters' degrees in clinical psychology from Minnesota State University and in human development from the University of Kansas, which she received in 1995 and 1999, respectively. She earned a Ph.D. in child and developmental psychology (with a focus on behavioral science) in 1999 from the University of Kansas.

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